Media Coverage
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Ghost Hunters of Haunted Auckland - Good Morning - TVNZ 1 - 20 March 2013  Click image to see the video! |
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Village buildings' hearts still beat - Howick and Pakuranga Times - 09 April 2012 WHILE sceptics will rule the notion out of hand, a band of paranormal researchers, with a plethora of sophisticated equipment in tow, have made two investigative visits to the village. They’re quick to emphasise they don’t “bust” ghost activity. Former Howick resident Mark Wallbank formed the group Haunted Auckland last October with the aim of experiencing and investigating paranormal activity. Paranormal is something beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. “I used to come to the village at weekends,” says Mr Wallbank. “I forgot about it for a few years. But when I started the group I thought of it because there is a considerable piece of history on one spot. “We’re researchers and many in the group are sceptical [about the spirit world], so we go to places to look into it.” They made their first visit to the village in December. In February, they returned to record and observe in Puhi Nui Homestead, Thomas Eckford’s Farm Homestead, Sergeant Michael Ford’s Cottage and the Maher-Gallagher cottages. Three teams of three investigators conducted a photographic sweep with EMF (magnetic fields) monitoring audio recording and EVP (electronic voice phenomena) equipment. Some key findings occurred in the Puhi Nui Homestead, where a silhouette of a person could be traced in the upstairs master bedroom window, an orb was photographed in a child’s cot, a deliberate tug of a curtain was seen in the main parlour, cold spots were identified and whispers were picked up by the audio equipment. “I’ve always been interested in the spirits,” says Mr Wallbank. “People have stories about them, so you want to experience it for yourself and ask whether the experience is natural, physical and if it is a spirit, what are they?” One of the investigators, Matthew Tyler, says he’s more of a sceptic. “But I’m interested in what people are seeing, feeling and hearing. Is there a scientific explanation, or is it in people’s minds? “Some in our group are sensitive to energies and can hear the spirits and communicate with them. We have the whole spectre in the team.” Much of the group’s work is qualified with alternative explanations, such as a coin left on a table and subsequently moved could be attributed to vibrations of the house; while different schools of thought surround photographic orbs, attributing them to raindrops, dirt or insects. However, from time to time, Mr Tyler says an unusual orb is captured where movement is seen. “People believe it’s the beginning of spirit manifestation, trying to turn themselves into visible energy. “Spirits are not, as portrayed in the movies, out to hurt people,” he says. “It’s more about having little feelings and seeing something out of the corner of your eye. They are not out to frighten you or maliciously attack. They tend to be mundane, just roaming around.” Historical guide Janet Lewis makes no bones about her sense of spirits from the past inhabiting the village. She’s positive about a sense of still coldness experienced down a narrow passage in the Puhi Nui Homestead, past the gunroom and leading to the maid’s room. “Governor Grey used to start the Pakuranga Hunt from this house when it was in Roscommon Road. It was also a respite place for World War I troops when they came back,” she says. Mr Tyler says the general belief is that cold spots represent a spirit using the energy from the air or a person’s body to attempt to manifest itself. “Sometimes they do it through the equipment where we find the batteries have been mysteriously drained. We believe that could be spirits, attempting to use the energy.” Mrs Lewis says: “They are here and they don’t worry me. I feel that something is there, that they are getting nosy and just checking.” One belief in the paranormal world is that construction or renovations can stir up spirit activity. There are reports of builders working on historical places finding their tools moved when they return to the sites in the mornings. Mrs Lewis agrees that “the spirits don’t like change”. “The roots are deep. This [Puhi Nui Homestead] was a family home with a lot of history. So cutting it into five and making two moves disturbs the beating heart of the building. The soul of the house has moved.” Mr Tyler says some spirits, able to interact, are probably used to people wandering through the village – “they might find a comfortable spot and just be sitting there”. Mrs Lewis says two visitors to the village saw and felt the presence of a spirit when it was full on a live day. “But,” Mr Tyler says, “the weeping woman seen constantly on the stairs in an English castle is a residual entity, repeating the same thing over and over. They don’t interact, they do their own thing.” Mr Wallbank is convinced there are spiritual events occurring at the Howick Historical Village, which he wants to document. “These are not hostile feelings. Paranormal things are very random. They don’t always show up, so you have to keep going back until something comes up.” Details about Haunted Auckland’s two village investigations are online at www.hauntedauckland.com.  |
Scary nights and haunted houses - Western Leader - 26 April 2012 Kris Dennis, 37, lives in Te Atatu with flatmates. He works in customer service by day and investigates paranormal activity at night. He tells reporter TUREI MACKEY some spooky tales. I've been involved with Haunted Auckland since its inception over six months ago and have worked on six investigations so far. We perform examinations as a group in different places, from sites with a history of alleged paranormal activity to a family household which has been experiencing strange occurrences. Contrary to popular belief we are not wanna-be ghost-busters but a mixture of sceptics and believers. I'm somewhere in between the two sides. I do believe in the things which are commonly called ghosts but I think there is some scientific reasoning behind it. Most of our work happens during the night. Not because that is when more paranormal activity occurs but rather it is a more convenient time to do research. We use everything from digital cameras, video recorders, electromagnetic field meters to digital thermometers. We record a lot throughout our time at an investigation which means nearly 4000 photos and hours of video footage in one night. I am usually left in charge of the audio recording devices which means I can record up to 20 hours of audio. The majority of the audio is nothing but silence but every now and again you can pick up something strange. When we conducted an investigation at a hotel in the Waikato I left an audio device running in one of the bathrooms. During this recording I heard a voice come across as saying the name "William". Others in the group suggested plausible reasons but having listened to the 20 hours of recording I felt I knew all the normal sounds and voices. That hotel was one of the more active places I have been to – I saw shadows moving on walls when there was nothing, at least explainable, to cause any shadow to move. The subject of paranormal activity has always interested me ever since I was child growing up in Timaru and Christchurch. As I got older I would conduct my own investigations with friends. The other thing that interests me in ghost hunting is the chance to learn more about New Zealand's history because you are studying the past more than anything else. When we finish up an investigation it is time to sit down and trawl through all the recordings. We spilt it up among the group because one person would go crazy having to watch and listen to all the hours of footage. I usually do a four-hour session each night and we put any unexplained phenomena up on our website and Facebook page for others to critique. That is probably the scariest part – having others pick your work to pieces. |
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Haunted Auckland - Glen Eden Guardian - August 2012  |
Weird and Tingley Wednesday (Radio Interview) - Polly and Grant - ZM - 26 September 2012 
Spirits guide paranormal researcher to safety - illustravel - 09 October 2012 
Spirits guide paranormal
researcher to safety 9/10/2012
Old graveyard. Photo: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
By Lara Wyatt
Just over three months ago Ronnie Fong was found alive after being
missing for four days in the Hunua Ranges. As a paranormal researcher,
a person who looks for signs of ghosts, he noticed some strange
occurrences while he was tramping. Fong says as he was hiking around
the mountains all of his technical equipment started to drain.
“My camera ran dead in front of my eyes. The battery was full and it
dropped to dead. My iPod had drained and that usually lasts for hours.
“I kept walking and my cell phone started beeping in my bag. It had
never happened to me before. I knew something was going to go wrong.”
Mark Wallbank of Haunted Auckland, a group of paranormal researchers,
says when spirits try to materialise they use energy sources from
things like cameras, torches and even people.
“Sometimes we go in all hyped and excited and then afterwards we are
shattered.”
Haunted Auckland has been running for a year and has done 20
investigations.
The group is made up of 11 researchers with a variety of skill sets
including technical, writing or spiritual.
Fong says he has been told there were a lot of deaths in the Hunua
Ranges because of tribal wars.
“Maybe I came across a sacred spot.”
The fantails led him out of the bush, says Fong.
“When I was in the room being interviewed by search and rescue there
was a fantail outside looking into the room. “They’ve been called
spirits and guardians of the forest. Now when I go running after work,
two circle around me.”
Duy Le Thanh, a student, also looks for signs of paranormal activity.
“I’d call myself a sceptic. It’d be cool to believe they were there. My
favourite part is reading about other people’s stories.”
Le Thanh has been to places like Waikumete Cemetery and Carlile House,
an orphanage in Ponsonby.
“Cold spots do happen. We usually just go exploring and stay in a spot.
Not for long. I couldn’t do it by myself.”
Wallbank says cold spots can be followed around the room with a
thermometer. At Birkenhead Cemetery, Wallbank says he stepped over a
“long, flat tombstone” on the ground and it felt icy cold.
“All around the tombstone, it was about the size of a king size bed,
maybe a bit longer. There were [cold] walls around the whole thing. It
felt icy cold like a freezer. You could put your hand in and out of
it.”
Fong says it is better to go out with other people.
“I should join a group. It’s safer. But if you have a strong mind and a
strong heart and you’re not there to hurt anyone, they’ll leave you
alone.”
Paranormal researchers are not always faced with unwavering support.
Fong says not everyone believes there are ghosts out there.
“I get people saying ‘You’re weird’. They probably won’t believe until
they see the evidence.
If people just do the normal things, nothing new will be invented. It’s
good to be one of those people that does something interesting.”
With plans to travel to the United States in November, Fong intends to
continue searching for paranormal activity.
“I know there’s something out there.”
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Paranormal detectives visit Te Aroha's haunted hotspots - Aroha Advertiser - November 2012 
Auckland Paranormal
investigators, Haunted Auckland recently visited Te
Aroha to look into a few of the reported haunted buildings and to see
if there was any truth to the ghost stories or just fragments of urban
myth. Team founder and leader Mark Wallbank says the group have
travelled quite extensively in the past year, delving into some of New
Zealand's most notorious spirit hotpots. The team spent the night in
the Mokena Hotel, with some interesting results. Also visited was the
Palace Hotel and the Grand Tavern.
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Busting Auckland's ghosts - Auckland Now - Published on Stuff.co.nz - 25 September 2012 
There have been rumours for
years. Whispers of more than just clothes and perfume lurking in the
walls of Smith and Caughey's department store.
They were stories Mark Wallbank couldn't ignore.
The man behind Haunted Auckland, a group of like-minded locals
searching for the truth about the afterlife, recently spent an evening
in the Queen St shopping institution. And what he found brings more
questions than answers.
While the team are still in the process of reviewing the footage and
audio from the time they spent in the building's basement and top
floor, Wallbank said it seemed as though something else was there with
them in the bowels of the building that evening.
"There were three people in the room, and they all felt something
chilling at the exact same time," he said.
Smith and Caughey's is just one in a very long list of Auckland
buildings Wallbank and his team of paranormal investigators have spent
time in, including The Civic, The Masonic Tavern and Ewelme Cottage in
Parnell, which is regarded as one of the most haunted places in
Auckland.
Armed with cameras, voice recorders, thermometers, torches, motion
detectors, electro-magnetic generators, parabolic audio receiver dishes
and military-grade glow sticks, the team of 10 (four men, six women)
spend anywhere from an hour to a whole night in buildings.
Either they contact the owners - like Smith and Caughey's - or, as is
the case with most private homes they visit, the owners call them.
It might be because of the building's history, or a general bad vibe,
that they are needed. Or there may be some physical issue the occupants
are experiencing. "We have gadgets that measure electrical and magnetic
fields in the air; things that may cause hallucinations, paranoia,
uneasy feelings, things that may be misunderstood as being paranormal.
"If you've got a leaking power box next to where you sleep, that's
going to be giving off electronic and electrical readings, which can
affect you."
That's right, even the ghost hunters believe it's 50/50 in the race
between supernatural and perfectly natural.
But Wallbank said it's not always that easy to find the root cause.
"We go in with our cameras and our gadgets and we film empty rooms. And
you never know, there's a chance we could capture something but it's
about being in the right place, at the right time, with the right
equipment aimed in the right direction really."
That luck of the draw hasn't put people off wanting to join the hunt
though. "There's a lot of people who want to get involved. They have
been influenced by TV and want to be ghost hunters. But they have no
idea what to expect - they expect exciting things when they go out, but
actually it can be quite boring. If you took away all the soundtrack
stuff from a TV scene, not a lot would happen - it would just be a
creaking floorboard or something."
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The Ghostbuster - Metro Magazine - November 2012 
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Ghost hunter at
work in Auckland - Auckland City Harbour News - 16 January 2013 
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Haunted by a ghostly mystery - North Shore Times - 22 January 2013 
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Spying on spooks - Western Leader - 25 January 2013 
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The Ghostbuster Gals - Woman's Day Magazine - 18 February 2013 
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The Russell Hotel Investigation - Eidolon Paranormal & Haunted Auckland |